Strangers
by jadelyjustjadely
Summary: "Brain damage? ... Get her to the O.R., stat! ... Car accident, critical condition..." Rachel is really wishing that she could be deaf, just for one day. Just so she can stand in the hospital without collapsing or shattering or breaking. Faberry. Car crash AE. [sorry about the awful title. still new to this, haha]


Rachel can't hear properly. Or see. Or think. Everything is fuzzy.

However, she does catch certain words and sentences here and there.

"_Brain damage? ... Get her to the O.R., stat! ... Car accident, critical condition..._"

Rachel is really wishing that she could be deaf, just for one day. Just so she can stand in the hospital without collapsing or shattering or breaking.

"Only family is allowed, kid, sorry," the nurse explains. Rachel tries to push past her. The nurse sighs. "Hey. Only _family _is allowed in there."

Rachel looks up at her with big, wet, pleading eyes. "P-please," she croaks. "She's... she's _Quinn _and I h-have to help her, somehow-"

The nurse looks down at her, and Rachel can tell she's frowning underneath the mask. What worries Rachel the most, though, is how _sad _her eyes are.

"I'm so sorry," the nurse starts, hesitantly. "But even if I allowed you in there... She wouldn't recognize you."

Rachel doesn't remember falling, but there she is, sitting on the cold, tiled hospital floor.

_

A few weeks after, Rachel is finally let in.

Quinn's sleeping, so she runs in quietly, eyes shining.

When she sits down on a chair beside the blonde, she grasps her hand firmly. Quinn's breath hitches, but she remains asleep.

"H-hey, Quinn," Rachel breathes. "It's m-me, Rachel? You remember me, r-right?"

She squeezes Quinn's hand a little tighter, but immediately relaxes. "The doctors said you wouldn't remember anyone. But they're wrong. I know they're wrong. You're going to remember Quinn, you have to."

Rachel's bottom lip trembles. "_I _need you to."

_

Rachel's asleep when Quinn finally stirs.

At first, the bright lights and the uncomfortable tubes startle her, but after a moment she calms.

She doesn't know how she ended up in a hospital, but she knows she's in one, and that's a start.

Quinn looks down at her hands, and, more importantly, the brunette holding one. She frowns. The girl is so familiar, Quinn can almost name her, but... _can't. _The brunette makes her feel safe, though. And... happy, as strange as that is. She gets the feeling that the girl is important.

She shakes her head, and pulls her hand away. The brunette jumps. Then she looks up, and Quinn's breath leaves her.

Her makeup is smudged, and her eyes are watery, but they're such a lovely shade of brown. They remind Quinn of hot chocolate, and they bring the same feeling; warmth, comfort, safety. Her hair is dark and wavy, and her thick bangs cover her forehead. If Quinn could pick any faults in her appearance, it would be her nose, which too large, but even that fits her, somehow.

"Quinn!"

Quinn blinks.

"Y-you're awake, oh my god," the other girl breathes. A lump rises in her throat. "I- Do you know who I am?"

Quinn shakes her head, eyes wide. The girl's bottom lip trembles.

"I'm R-Rachel," she stutters. "Rachel B-Berry?"

Quinn shakes her head again. "I'm sorry," she begins, voice rough. "I'm sorry. I have no idea who you are, but you seem nice."

Rachel smiles sadly. Then she stands up and runs out, and Quinn can see her sobbing through the window.

_

When her parents come in, Quinn feels horrible.

She tries so hard, but she just can't remember.

Oh, sure, she recognizes them, and she knows them, but it's... off. She can't recall the morning routines, or what her mother's best dish is, (_can she even cook? she's my mother, and I can't remember if she can cook_), or if her father watches sports, like most dads do, yelling at the TV, and cussing when his favorite team loses.

And on top of it all, she's still trying to figure out why the Rachel girl is so important to her. When she asks a boy, Kurt, she thinks, who she is, he just sighs and says they had a "very love-hate relationship, but you two would never seriously hurt each other", which leads her no where.

Quinn is frustrated and sad and so very lonely.

Rachel visits her again, after a couple days. Her hair is slightly messy, and eyes are slightly puffy, but she makes Quinn smile when she walks through the door.

"Hey, Quinn," she sits down. "Are you doing okay?"

Quinn hesitates. "I don't really know, to be honest. I still don't really know who anyone _is, _and it sucks."

Rachel frowns. "There's the Glee club, which is made up of me, Kurt, he's the one with the blue eyes and high voi-"

"No, no. I know that. I mean, I don't know _who they are,_" she waves her hands around. "Do you get it?"

Rachel nods, still frowning. "Yeah, Quinn. I think I get it."

_

"So, am I any good?"

Rachel looks up. "Hm?"

"I'm in Glee, right?" Quinn questions. Rachel nods. "Am I good at singing?"

Rachel's cheeks turn pink. Quinn wants to laugh.

"Yes, Quinn. You're... amazing, actually. Really, really good."

Quinn nods. "Do you know what my favorite song is?"

Rachel shakes her head. Quinn bites her lip, thinking.

"Then, what's your favorite song?"

Rachel's eyes light up, and suddenly, she's talking a mile a minute about Broadway, and music, and somebody named Barbra. Quinn smiles.

They spend the rest of that afternoon, singing and humming. Quinn doesn't push herself too much, but she finds out, yeah, she is pretty good.

She thinks Rachel's voice is beautiful and wonderful and _perfect, _and she tells her so. Rachel blushes, and Quinn does laugh this time.

Quinn's almost ready to go home, but she doesn't know where home is.

She's pretty sure it's with that Rachel girl, because she's the only one who made Quinn feel normal.

Quinn's almost ready to go home, but Rachel's not sure she wants her to.

Because Quinn might remember everything, and realize she's not really _that _close to Rachel, and there will be no more singing together outside of Glee club, or laughing, or talking, or just... _being together _like that again.

And that's not something Rachel wants, because she's pretty sure she's falling in love with Quinn Fabray all over again.


End file.
